Verizon Wireless looked to re-assert its dominance of the domestic LTE conversation reporting today that its LTE network now covered more than 298 million potential customers across 500 markets and 99% of its legacy 3G footprint. In combination with its planned launch of services next month in Alaska, the carrier said its initial LTE rollout plans are now basically completed.
The push towards coverage comes as recent reports have shown superior networks speeds being provided by AT&T Mobility’s rapidly expanding LTE network. However, as AT&T Mobility’s LTE network is “newer” than Verizon Wireless’ offering and covers approximately 98 million fewer potential customers, it’s assumed that there are fewer customers fighting for bandwidth supplies and thus seeing higher network speeds.
Speaking with reporters about its latest expansion, Verizon Wireless’ chief network officer Nicola Palmer, explained that the carrier was not interested in a speed race, and instead was looking to provide an LTE experience to the broadest base of customers. That experience is for customers to be able to find downlink speeds of between five and 12 megabits per second and uplink speeds of between three and five Mbps.
The Alaska launch, which was accommodated by the carrier’s 2010 acquisition of a state-wide 700 MHz license from Triad 700, will be Verizon Wireless’ first foray into the nation’s least densly populated state and built exclusively on its LTE service.
As for further bolstering its LTE network, Verizon Wireless said it was on track to begin adding spectrum support for the 1.7/2.1 GHz band in select markets beginning during the second half of this year and that it will begin including device support for that band in a number of new devices. The 1.7/2.1 GHz band, also known as the advanced wireless services spectrum, should allow Verizon Wireless to provide capacity support in densly populated markets.
Verizon Wireless recently completed a deal with a handful of cable providers to bolster its AWS spectrum holdings, which should allow the carrier to double the amount of spectrum supporting its LTE network to around 40 megahertz. The carrier added that moving forward it would be looking to begin re-farm its 1.9 GHz spectrum holdings from its current 3G network to its LTE offering as traffic patterns dictate. Palmer explained that the carrier expected its 3G network to carry basically half of its current traffic by the end of 2015.
In addition to providing more spectrum assets, Palmer noted that the carrier was looking at a number of capacity enhancements in its tool box, including cell splitting and the deployment of small cells and distributed antenna systems. For small cells, Palmer explained that the carrier viewed the technology as an LTE-only enhancement and that it was still waiting on the appropriate equipment from its equipment suppliers.
While Verizon Wireless continues to reign supreme in regards to domestic LTE coverage, South Korea’s SK Telecom announced this week that it has begun offering commercial services using enhancements provided by the LTE-Advanced standard. Those enhancements include spectrum aggregation that allows for broader network channels and higher network speeds.
Palmer downplayed the near-term move to LTE-A, noting that the technology was currently surrounded with more hype than practicality, and that the carrier would look at deploying some of those upgrades where and when it made sense.
Verizon Wireless’ bolstered LTE coverage will also play into the operator’s plans to begin rolling out voice over LTE services beginning next year. The carrier noted that for customers to be able to take advantage of the benefits provided by VoLTE, they would need compatible devices and LTE coverage on both ends of the phone call, thus the need to have LTE support basically anywhere a customer can get a cellular signal. Verizon Wireless has initially held off on the deployment of VoLTE citing quality issues, but Palmer noted that recent tests have shown that the technology was nearly ready for commercial deployment. And once the carrier is set to begin rolling out VoLTE, Palmer indicated that it would be a network-wide launch.
As LTE coverage reaches parity with its legacy network, Palmer also explained that the carrier would be able to begin offering devices that were LTE only, thus forgoing any support for its legacy CDMA offerings. The carrier currently offers the Samsung Galaxy Camera as an LTE-only device, with plans to rollout LTE-only smartphones towards the end of next year.
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